THE Sindh government has announced that the Premarital and Marital Counselling Bill is in the works, an important attempt to address a long-ignored public health gap. At a press briefing last week, provincial ministers said the bill would make counselling mandatory before a marriage is registered. Couples would receive guidance on family planning, reproductive health, mental well-being, newborn care and basic communication within marriage. These are simple goals, yet their absence has cost women and families far too much. Pakistan’s maternal health indicators remain among the worst in the region. Many women face repeated, closely spaced........

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